1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fryer system for frying in a through feed operation having an endless conveyor mechanism for which a plurality of receiving containers are arranged for circulation and are designed in each instance for receiving a defined amount of frying goods. Further, the invention relates to a process for frying in a through feed operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a type of fryer system is disclosed for example in German Laid-Open Patent Application No. 26 40 627 A1. It comprises an endless conveyor mechanism with which a plurality of receiving containers are arranged for circulation and are designed in each instance for accepting a defined amount of frying goods, wherein the goods can be fried within the receiving container by a heated frying fluid. In the food industry such fryer systems are used for example in frying of so-called instant noodles, in which the preparation time or cooking time of subsequently instant food dishes is shortened by a frying process. For this process, defined portions of noodles, for example, clusters of noodles or blocks of noodles, in each case, are laid in the receiving containers, which are attached to a conveyor chain. The receiving containers are essentially formed from a wire meshing or feature an essentially fluid permeable base part, e.g. a plate having perforations. For frying, the receiving containers, together with the goods, pass through a frying oil bath, wherein the portion containers together with the goods are immersed into the heated frying oil.
With such types of fryer systems, there is a relatively high consumption of frying oil and energy, which is contributable, for one thing, to heavy volatilization, due to the large open surface of the frying oil in the frying bath and to the adhesion of oil adhering to the goods and adhering to the receiving container during extraction from the frying bath. Another problem exists in that parts of the goods escape from the receiving containers into the frying bath and contaminate the bath. Despite continual cleaning of the frying oil, the oil has to be replaced at relatively short periods of time. With conventional systems, there can be an oil consumption of up to 1000 kg and more per hour. A high oil consumption is disadvantageous both from an economic point of view as well as from the aspect of environmental objections.